Customer Reviews

Travelers' Tales Nepal: True Stories of Life on the Road (Travelers' Tales Guides)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Why is Nepal so magical that people keep on coming back ? Well, you may find the answers after reading the wonderful collection of short stories. I liked it because the stories selected were, most importantly easy to read and short enough for busy people.Inside the 5 chapters you'll find writers like Peter Matthiesen (The Snow Leopard) and Manjushree Thapa (Meanderings in Mustang), both of whom were privileged enough to enter the forbidden lands I got so close to (I only got as far in as Kagbeni,Lower Mustang !). I found Broughton Coburn's (A Nosy neighbor) account of his encounter with a leech most enlightening and amusing. Tears flowed forth after reading Robert J Matthews's (A Simple Gift) and Allan Aistrope's (Virtue's Children), if you've been there you'll know why.Having gone trekking I'd certainly put Jack Bennett's (The Art of Walking) into good use the next time. In Susan Vreeland's (Do Buddhists Cry?), you get an insight of the selflessness of the native people there and you begin to wonder if we really are the more civilized ?. I thought that the addition of short quotes and highlights from other writers added in-between and at the end of each stories were nice, as at a glance you see how others fared in similar fates. My ambitions of writing a journal of my visit is out the window - I'll just share this book to anyone who wants to know how I felt exactly when I was there.Buy this book !

I loved this book, it was a great travel book. This book gave me insights into the culture and beliefs of Nepal, not just places to stay or to eat like most travel books. All of the stories were unique and made me really excited to hop on a plane and travel there. With this book I know what to expect once I get there and know enough not to offend their culture as an American.

I recommend using this to supplement a Fromer's or Lonely planet travel book.

Reading this book is indeed a great experience. I am really thankful that people abroad have made the effort to introduce Nepal's romantic realities to the world. I am sure that anyone who wants to know about Nepal would definitely benefit from this book. I am glad that I bought this book and learnt so much about my own country. To be honest though being a native, I was not familiar with the panoromic details about Nepal that the book has captured. After reading various tales collected in the book I am inspired to visit those beautiful places and experience the joy myself.

This collection of essays and excerpts about Nepal and her people greatly exceeded my expecations. The editor displayed refreshingly high standards when it came to picking which authors to include. The writing is of high quality, and the vast range of works included gives you an thorough, unvarnished look at all aspects of life and travel in Nepal. Taken together the entries accomplish the difficult task of helping the visitor-to--be know what it will FEEL like to be there.

You just don't get this kind of stuff out of guidebooks.

The book has enhanced my trip preparations and brought my excitement about going to Nepal to a fever pitch. I highly recommend this to anyone about to make a similar journey.

I hope to find more books in this series available for all the other countries on my travel wish list.

Traveler's Tales is the postmodern guidebook. Instead of lists of iteneraries, temple admission prices and grainy photos, the authors of this book allow the reader to imagine Nepal in all of its tantalizing fullness. The excerpts selected range on topic and style, but all present unique aspects of the Nepali experience-- rural and urban, male and female, touristic and holistic. In opening the pages you can smell the spice markets, hear the chants of priests, feel the grinding poverty, inhale the crystalline Himalayan air and allow yourself to be carried down the narrow alleys of Pokhara. After reading Traveler's Tales: Nepal, I assue you you'll immediately run to Expedia to check fares to Kathmandu.

Another in the Travelers series of travel anthologies, this time capturing the experience of Nepal in 38 stories organized into five sections: Essence of Nepal, Some Things to Do, Going Your Own Way, In the Shadows, and The Last Word.

My favourite stories are: A Nosy Neighbour by Broughton Coburn about a leech who had crawled up his nose, and how to get it out; The Art Of Walking by Jack Bennett about how to trek; Jewel Of The Nagas by Ian Baker about trying to buy a sacred jewel; The Call Of Kala Patthar by Jimmy Carter about his trek in the Solu-Khumbu; Democracy Day by Alison Wright about how the 1990 revolution in Kathmandu became deadly dangerous; Avalanche by Brian Weirum about being trapped on Mount Meru in the 1995 deadly snowstorm.

I am a fan of the Travelers Tales series and find that they provide more memorable ideas about a place than just reading a guide book.

When I am thinking of travelling to a country, one of the first things i do is to find whichever book of this series, covers the place I am going to. I have never been disappointed. I think there are certain mandatory things that a visitor need to experience in each country, and this series is excellent at preparing you for those.

There is not much to add to the above reviews, BUT be sure to read this prior to any trip to Nepal, it will heighten your awareness of theplace a sa living breathing culture, not simply a collection of architectural sights. The collected authors here, as in all books of this series, have a wonderful way with words.

Be advised. I am a health care professional and when my daughter and her husband were over for dinner, we had a couple of glasses of wine and read "A Nosy Neighbor" out loud. It was hysterically funny, one of the best pieces of medical writing I have ever had the joy of reading.